News Briefs

Bosnian Serbs March Into Deserted Enclave of Zepa

Los Angeles TimesSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina

The Bosnian Serb army pushed ahead Tuesday in its takeover of a second
United Nations-designated "safe area," marching into the town of Zepa but
finding its streets and homes almost deserted, U.N. officials said.

Muslim women, their children and government soldiers, fearing Bosnian
Serb atrocities, fled in advance of their enemies' troops' arrival and
sought refuge in the surrounding caves and forests. The Bosnian Serbs'
capture of Zepa follows by exactly two weeks the fall of Srebrenica,
another U.N.-protected enclave where conquering Serbs expelled more than
30,000 Muslims in the single largest incident of "ethnic cleansing" in the
39-month Bosnian war.

Written off by the United Nations and the West, Zepa had resisted for a
week of Bosnian Serb shelling and psychological warfare. The isolated
enclave of 17,000 people received no assistance even after Washington and
allied nations pledged a more aggressive defense of the safe areas.

The Muslim-led but nonsectarian Bosnian government, insisting that parts
of the enclave remained under its control, said its forces in Zepa would
turn over their weapons to the United Nations as the nationalist Serbs are
demanding - but only if U.N. officials agree to evacuate civilians and
airlift soldiers from Zepa. "Any evacuation without the protection of (U.N.
peacekeeping forces) would mean sure death," Bosnian Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic asserted.

Group Says Baby Foods Contain Pesticide Residues

The Washington PostWASHINGTON

More than half the name-brand baby foods selected at random from grocery
stores in a recent study were found to contain residues of pesticides,
including three probable carcinogens, a nonprofit environmental
organization reported Tuesday.

Sixteen different pesticides were detected on the eight types of baby
food sampled in the inquiry, according to the Environmental Working Group
(EWG), the Washington-based organization that conducted the study earlier
this year.

Lynn Goldman, an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, said that the findings accurately reflect the occasional occurrence
of minuscule amounts of pesticides in baby food. But the levels found
should pose no health threat to infants, she stressed.

"I would not recommend that parents stop feeding their children baby
food as a result of this," said Goldman, who was trained as a pediatrician.
The nutritional value of the food is important for infants, she said.

The EWG study acknowledged that the levels of residues found fall well
below the amounts allowed by federal agencies.

Salvadorans Protest Arrest Of Accused Vigilantes

Los Angeles TimesMEXICO CITY

Salvadorans marched through the streets of San Miguel, El Salvador,
Monday to protest the arrests last week of 16 men accused of belonging to a
vigilante group that has killed street gang members and threatened lawyers,
judges and politicians.

Four police, a Protestant minister and a prominent merchant, were among
those arrested Thursday in San Miguel, about 80 miles outside El Salvador's
capital of San Salvador, by the National Civilian Police. All have denied
that they are members of the vigilante group known as "Sombra Negra," or
Black Shadow, which has claimed responsibility for murders of two dozen
gang members.

Further arrests are anticipated as a special unit continues its
investigation into possible involvement of the Public Security Ministry and
high-ranking police officials in the vigilante activities, sources close to
the case said.

"The arrests are disturbing because they suggest the involvement of
police," said George Vickers, executive director of the Washington Office
on Latin America, an American think tank. "On the other hand, there has
been some real serious investigation here. While there are some high-level
individuals involved, it is individuals rather than institutions."

That is a relief for those who feared that the vigilantes marked a
return to the days of "death squads," when unknown gunmen killed government
critics with impunity.